WASHINGTON — When it was all pulled together in the Nuggets’ locker after the game, Will Barton was decked head-to-toe in “Protect the Family” gear.

Haven’t heard of it? You will.

He’s betting on it.

Barton’s big day was not confined to scoring 15 points in a Nuggets’ victory over Washington on Thursday night. His day was jam-packed as he officially opened a store of “Protect the Family” gear in Waverly, a neighborhood in the Northern District of Baltimore.

Here’s how his day went: Morning meetings and walkthroughs in preparation for the Wizards game. Then he and teammate J.J. Hickson headed to Baltimore for the grand opening of the store, the PTF Flagship Store. After all that could be done there was done, the duo high-tailed it back to downtown D.C. for the game. Read more…

INDIANAPOLIS — Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari may have missed out on an All-Star reserve spot, but he’ll go to Toronto to be part of the festivities that weekend just the same. Gallinari is part of a number of current and former NBA players, a WBNA player, and coaches tabbed to participate in the second annual Basketball Without Borders Global Camp, held during All-Star Weekend.

Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

The NBA and FIBA announced that 53 high school aged boys and girls from 27 countries will be the campers that Gallo and the others will instruct. The camp is held from Feb. 12-14 at Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto.

“The BWB Global Camp is a great opportunity for these boys and girls to learn directly from players and coaches, many of whom have been involved with the BWB program for years,” said NBA Vice President, International Basketball Operations, Brooks Meek in a statement. “The BWB program continues to teach values like leadership, teamwork and respect that have application on and off the court.” Read more…

Nuggets coach Michael Malone yells to his players during the first quarter of their game against the Celtics on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

WASHINGTON — Highlights from Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s preview of Thursday’s game against the Wizards during his pre-game news conference from the Verizon Center.

On how to cut down turnovers: “It’s always difficult to do it on the fly. You have game slippage when you play back-to-backs, three (games) in four (nights), it makes it a little more difficult because you can’t get on the practice court and address it. You can watch film, you can talk about it. We’ve been up-and-down in that area. At times we’ve been really good.

“Prior to the Atlanta game I think we were averaging 13.4 turnovers in the last 10 games, that’s really good. But now, the last three opponents — Atlanta, Boston and tonight, Washington — do a great job of turning you over. We know they are going to be gambling — strong hands, quick hands, deflections — so can we go out there make the right decision, not over-penetrate and do a much better job of not giving them easy points. Our offense cannot fuel their break.” Read more…

BOSTON — The elation of being selected to the Rising Stars Challenge quickly wore off for Emmanuel Mudiay when he realized one very important teammate was not named to the team.

Gary Harris.

“I was kind of more upset than happy because he didn’t get in it,” Mudiay said. “I felt like he should have gotten in it. It would have been definitely fun going with me him and Nikola. But I know he’s going to keep working on his game and prove to everyone he should have been on that list. But we all know in this locker room that he should have been on that list.”

Harris would have been part of the U.S. Team in the game, which uses a U.S. vs. World format. There are six guards on the roster — Jordan Clarkson (L.A. Lakers), D’Angelo Russell (L.A. Lakers), Elfrid Payton (Orlando), Marcus Smart (Boston), Rodney Hood (Utah), and Zach LaVine (Minnesota). Read more…

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was named to the Rising Stars Challenge during All-Star Weekend along with rookie guard Emmanuel Mudiay. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)i

The Nuggets are back in All-Star weekend activities.

Nuggets rookies Emmanuel Mudiay and Nikola Jokic were both named to BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge on Wednesday.

Denver Nuggets guard Emmanuel Mudiay jokes with teammates as time runs out in the team’s NBA basketball game against the Detroit Emmanuel Mudiay. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

The Nuggets selected Mudiay with the seventh-overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. He ranks fifth among rookies in scoring (11.0), and leads all rookies in assists (5.7). Jokic ranks fifth among rookies in rebounds (5.4) and seventh in scoring (9.0).

It is the second straight year the Nuggets have had at least one player named to the Rising Stars game. Last year, center Jusuf Nurkic was selected, though he did not play in the game.

The Rising Stars Challenge features a US vs. World format. Each team consists of first-and-second year players. The game will be played on Friday, Feb. 12 at Air Canada Centre in Toronto, the site of this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend. Read more…

Will Barton drives to the basket during a recent game against Detroit. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

He was on-fire in December, growing into one of the league’s best sixth men, and making plays all over the court to gain that sterling reputation. He averaged 20.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and shot 47.2 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range that month.

Other teams noticed, too. That’s when things started to change. Barton moved up on scouting reports. Defenses tilted to stop him. Better defenders guarded him. His game has been dissected, and all of his strengths are now priorities for Nuggets’ opponents to take away.

“Definitely catching more attention,” Barton said. “I can hear coaches of other teams, and players, every time I touch the ball when I’m coming down the court yelling ‘load load,’ like load to the ball because everyone knows that I want to get to the paint. They’re running me off the 3-point line now because I’ve been shooting a good percentage from the 3-point line. I’m seeing more attention — when I get to the lane guys are converging on me. It’s different.” Read more…

This summer, when the salary cap money flows and the Nuggets are one of many teams deciding where best to spend their many millions, could current Atlanta wing Kent Bazemore be a fit in Denver?

Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore goes up for a dunk against Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

He’s definitely a player to keep an eye on.

This is what we know:

– He’d help improve the Nuggets shooting profile. And it needs help. As of Wednesday, the Nuggets were 21st in the NBA in 3-point percentage and 19th in 3-pointers made.

– He’s already familiar with Nuggets head coach Michael Malone, who coached him as an assistant with Golden State in 2012-13.

– He’s also familiar with, and a fan of, current Nuggets guard Will Barton.

– He’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

In an NBA that is placing increasing value on shooting, he’ll get paid. Much more than the $2 million he’s making this season. Bazemore’s official stance on his upcoming free agency is this:

“Winning takes care of everything,” he said. “I’m just happy to be part of this (Atlanta) organization. The guys have given me an opportunity to play. With (DeMarre) Carroll leaving, they could have done a lot of things in free agency this summer. But, they believed in me and I’m very thankful for it. So right now I’m just trying to get as many wins as possible for this organization and everything else will fall into place.” Read more…

Emmanuel Mudiay Nuggets heads towards the basket using a Kenneth Faried screen in a game against Oklahoma City on January 19.(Photo by Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)

With multiple players that can score from anywhere on the court, the Atlanta Hawks will be handful for the Nuggets to deal with in the last game of their homestand on Monday night.

But if the Nuggets can get things figured out, they’ll finish their longest home stretch of the season with a very respectable 5-3 mark.

“They’ll be a challenge tonight,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “But we’re hoping that we can close out this homestand 5-3.”

Point guard Emmanuel Mudiay agreed.

“It would be huge,” Mudiay said. “The goal was 6-2, but 5-3 would still be good. The West, trying to get that eighth spot is so…you lose one and it’s kind of tough. But you’re still in it, so you’re trying to win as many games as you can.” Read more…

Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried puts up a shot in his team’s game against Memphis on Jan. 21. (Photo by Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)

Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried sat out of Saturday’s win over Detroit with left adductor (groin) soreness. He is officially day-to-day, but says the injury does feel significant to him.

“Yeah, it does,” Faried said. “When something doesn’t enable me to run and jump and do what I do, then it’s a significant injury. So I’m kind of nervous. But everybody says it’s going to be okay, that it will just keep getting better, and to keep stretching it.”

Faried, the Nuggets starting power forward, said he didn’t feel right after waking up on Saturday morning. He started shootaround, but couldn’t finish it and was examined further. Read more…

The Nuggets struggled to fill the stands at Pepsi Center in 2014-15. (AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post)

The Denver Nuggets have lost a higher percentage of fans over the last decade than all but nine teams, according to a review of NBA, NFL, NHL and MLB attendance figures. MLS teams were not included in the study.

The survey, conducted by 24/7 Wall St., found that the Nuggets saw a 16.7 percent decline in attendance over the last decade. Their average home attendance is 14,700, which is about 76 percent of capacity.

The Nuggets made the playoffs 10 consecutive seasons from 2003-04 to 2012-13, but have failed to make the postseason the last two seasons, and are outside of playoff position this year.

“I fully get that we have to give them something to cheer about, and something to feel good about, and something that they want to come watch and be a part of,” Nuggets coach Mike Malone said of the team’s attendance in October.

The rankings were determined by the largest attendance percentage drops in regular-season home games over the last 10 years. Attendance data was provided by ESPN. Teams that opened a new facility or relocated over the last decade were excluded.

Nuggets president Josh Kroenke, on the set of The Sports Show on October 6, 2015 at The Denver Post. (Photo By Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)

The Nuggets rank 21st on Forbes list of most valuable NBA franchises.

The list, released on Wednesday, is an annual look at the value of NBA teams. The Nuggets are valued at $855 million, according to Forbes. Team revenue is $140 million while operating expenses check in at $26 million.

“The Nuggets had the sharpest year-over-year decline in average local television ratings (50%), and had the fourth-smallest average audience size on Altitude (13,000) last season,” Forbes wrote. “Fans aren’t coming to the arena either. Average attendance of 14,700 ranked third worst in the NBA, and it is last halfway through the 2015-16 season.” Read more…

Emmanuel Mudiay goes up for a layup during the Nuggets game at the Dallas Mavericks earlier this season. (Tony Gutierrez, The Associated Press)

The Nuggets are at the halfway point of their season, exactly 41 games into it. So, who are they? Nuggets coach Michael Malone wants his team to get familiar with the answer to that question.

“I’m a big believer in making sure your team understands why you win and why you lose,” Malone said. “You can’t take for granted that they know.”

In that spirit we’ll take a statistical look at what is happening when the Nuggets are winning. Definitely things they’ll want to repeat in the second half of the season, which starts on Tuesday against Oklahoma City. Twelve stats, that when they’re in place, usually means the Nuggets are walking out that night with a victory. Read more…

Jameer Nelson drives to the basket while Golden State’s Jason Thompson defends during their game on January 13. (Photo by Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)

The thought that his wrist might be fractured did initially run through Jameer Nelson’s mind.

But a clean MRI alleviated any worry.

Still, Nelson said he is having “mobility issues” in his left wrist and remains a question mark to play in the Nuggets’ game on Tuesday against Oklahoma City.

“It was one of those freakish accidents, things that happen,” Nelson said. “It’s just part of the game. It’s gotten better, swelling is going down a little bit. Just got to continue to get treatment on it.” Read more…

Danilo Gallinari celebrates after he comes up with the loose ball that helped the Nuggets clinch a win over Golden State on Wednesday night. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

Danilo Gallinari picked himself up off the Pepsi Center court and, for just a moment, let the cheers wash over him. He pounded his chest. He urged the crowd to get louder.

The Nuggets were on the verge of their biggest victory of the season, over defending champion Golden State on Wednesday night. Gallinari reveled in it. It was the most emotion he’d show the rest of the night. Because, getting jiggy in the post game press conference isn’t his thing.

But this is the most confident we’ve seen him in some time.

Probably in the last three seasons. And that made his display against Golden State, his career-high extending sixth straight game of 20 or more points (28 in total), apropos. Golden State is the opponent that so many insist three fateful years ago, had he been on the court instead of nursing a torn ACL, the Nuggets would have beaten in the first round of the playoffs. And the course of the franchise’s history would have been changed.

“I had a lot of dreams about it, trust me,” Gallinari said. “Especially as soon as I got injured. But dreams are not reality.”

Sean Kilpatrick celebrates a victory back in his college days with Cincinnati. He’s now hoping to prove himself with the Nuggets. (Chris Trotman, Getty Images)

Pulling from the file of, ‘He’s here, might as well use him,’ Nuggets coach Michael Malone drew up a play for his newest shooter, Sean Kilpatrick, during Tuesday’s practice.

Not only was it Kilpatrick’s first practice with the Nuggets, “it was my first shot,” said Kilpatrick, who was signed to a 10-day contract on Tuesday. “Coach ended up drawing me a play and said you better hit the shot.”

Will Barton walks off the court after the Nuggets’ loss to Portland on Sunday night. (Photo by Brent Lewis/The Denver Post)

Michael Malone appreciated Will Barton taking the team’s last loss, against Portland, on his shoulders, but the Nuggets coach insisted it wasn’t necessary.

“What I told Will was that when we win, when we lose, we do it together,” Malone said. “Us losing to Portland was not on Will Barton. I told him, I appreciate him saying that and trying to take responsibility for that, but I also wanted to reassure him that we didn’t lose that game because of him. It’s not his responsibility to take that on himself.”

Barton apologized to the coach and team for having an off-night, in which he scored just five points on 2-of-10 shooting. Barton said he still felt that way. Read more…

“Our offense hasn’t been great at times, but if our defense was a little bit better, if our defense was our anchor, we’d have a chance to be in games and win games,” Malone said. “And we’ve done that, but you just can’t give up 110, 108, 112 every night and have teams shooting 48, 49 and 50 percent. You’re not going to win that way. So you just have to find a way to defend, and it starts (Wednesday) night. We have a two-game road trip, Minnesota and Memphis and hopefully we can bring our defense with us.” Read more…

Nuggets guard Will Barton warms up his hands during the first quarter of Sunday night’s game against Portland. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

The very term, “team sports,’ suggests the outcome of any one game is greater than the play of any one player. It’s just hard to keep that in mind when, as a player in the heat of things, you think the game would have been different had you played better.

On Sunday, Will Barton was that man.

He pointed the finger at himself as the reason for the Nuggets’ 112-106 loss to Portland, though everyone knows it wasn’t his fault, despite the fact he didn’t play well against his old team. But Barton stood out one more time in what has been a standout season for him, in assuming responsibility for the Nuggets shortcomings that night.

Kenneth Faried goes for a layup around the Trailblazers’ Mason Plumlee during the first quarter at the Pepsi Center on Jan. 3, 2016 in Denver. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)

Chances are, the 24 hours from late Saturday night to after the Nuggets’ Sunday night game, is a period of time that will always be seared into Kenneth Faried’s mind. There was so much going on, so much to think about, so much to worry about.

When Sunday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers started, Faried was where he always was — in the Nuggets’ starting lineup. He smiled while dunking in the lay-up line. He bounced around in typical Manimal fashion. He, by all accounts, looked fine.

Chris Dempsey arrived at The Denver Post in Dec. 2003 after seven years at the Boulder Daily Camera, where he primarily covered the University of Colorado football and men's basketball teams. A University of Colorado-Boulder alumnus, Dempsey covers the Nuggets and also chips in on college sports.